The Flight of Daedalus
by Timmothy Shaw
Summary: The continuation of the Lake House (Max and the other genetically altered bird children) This is my first Fan Fic so be brutal in the replys please
1. Prologue

Disclaimer: I do not own Max, Matt, Ozymandius, Icarus, Peter, Wendy, Frannie, et cetera. The only characters I can claim as my own are Daedalus and Nick.

Personal Note: Once I read the "Lake House" and "Where the Wind Blows" for the first time I couldn't put them down. I must have read them twenty times apice before wanting more. The authors name is James Patterson. I strongly urge you to read his novels, he is an excellant writer and I have a lot of respect for him.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Prologue:**

Daedalus saw him kill again. He always saw him kill. It was indeed horrible, but that is the way Daedalus viewed Hauer these days. A murderer, a filthy man who would kill and destroy for money, it was despicable.

Daedalus saw him kill again. This time though, he destroyed a special person. Daedalus saw Harold Hauer kill someone he hadn't seen in a very long time. This should have made him angry, or upset even. But Daedalus was void of emotion, he too was a killer. A killer since the age of nine, he had dismissed any thought of redemption and now followed the man who had forced him into this façade of a killer. Daedalus, if truth be told, was not cold blooded in (literally in fact he was but regarding the turn of phrase he was far from it) he was only tired and just gave up. Perhaps this Freudian view of Daedalus was giving him too much credit; it is entirely possible that Daedalus was not that deep. The fact that he only had one thought on his mind at the moment was evidence of this.

Daedalus saw him kill again. _He killed, he murdered my...he killed again_. One thought, one obsession. Even in the dim evening light, he saw the man crouched in the brush next to the house. He saw the burst of flame from the high caliber rifle, and he saw the spattering of blood as the bullet ripped its way through the young heart of his friend. Little Wendy, such a bright girl, she had spotted him. His shadowy figure in the darkness was enough to give her pause for a few seconds.

Daedalus saw him kill. He also saw young Peter kill to avenge his friend, he saw the others as good as dead, he saw so much. Finally, when the men had gone and the young one was lying alone Daedalus approached. His old friend was not dead he was happy to see. Daedalus picked up the young man and spread his leathery wings. As he looked up he saw a figure lurking in the woods.

"Take care of your uncle Nicholas. He needs you now more than ever my son" Daedalus flew towards the setting sun, silhouetted like a demon from hell.

Nicholas backed into the woods, all the while his eyes on his father. 'Watch his uncle', did Daedalus think him compassionate and weak like himself or his uncle?

_They attacked my Uncle, attacked Icarus!_

_They attacked my Brother, attacked Icarus!_

_They almost killed Ozymandius..._


	2. Beginnings

Disclaimer: I do not own the characters portrayed in this story. I wish I had come up with them, but they are the result of the brilliant mind of James Patterson.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 1**

Max walked the fifty feet down the never ending hallway to her next class. Keeping a close eye on her sneakers, Max allowed her thoughts to wander slightly but soon found that that was a mistake. Her thoughts immediately returned to Oz. Today marked one year. One year of torture and pain, waking up every day wishing you were with the one person who filled that specific small spot in your life that you couldn't live without.

Before she knew it Max was at her next class. History wasn't a bad class, not her worst by far. The teacher was the best. Mr. Adams treated her like the rest of the students, no extra attention or no attention at all. He was by far her favorite.

The classes passed by with frightening slowness. Each second of people staring and whispered comments felt like a lifetime of dying slowly. Her only retreat was an occasional glance from Matt and Icarus in the hallways.

Everything was better at home. Frannie was there all the time now, having opened a smaller veterinarian business near the lake house. Kit flew in from Washington on the weekends where his job at the FBI demanded a lot of attention during the week. Even than he was on call all the time and frequently had to succumb to their orders back to Washington.

Frannie looked out the window of the kitchen where she was washing the grime off of her hands. Having a veterinarian business again demanded certain hassles, like rows of caged animals she was tending to at the moment. She had just finished cleaning those cages and was washing her hands when she looked out of the window.

Frannie saw out the window a scene that would shock many people. Frannie, however, was not a part of 'many people'. Her life and the life of six children had changed forever a fateful night almost two years ago. Children now reduced to five, five beautiful, good hearted children. Five children who had been created in a laboratory and made scientific history.

Max, Matthew, Icarus, Peter and Wendy.

The amazing story actually started almost two years in the small burg of Bear Bluff, Colorado, which is fifty or so miles northwest of Boulder.

Frannie was driving home late one night when she happened to see a streaking white flash-than realized it was a young girl running fast through the woods not too far from her home.

But that was just part of what she saw. Being a Veterinarian, Dr. Frannie just didn't accept what her eyes were telling her, so she stopped the car and got out. The strange girl appeared to be about eleven or twelve, with long blond hair and a loose-fitting white smock that was stained with blood and torn.

Frannie stepped back and steadied herself against a tree. After a while she realized that her eyes didn't lie to her. Along with a pair of foreshortened arms, the girl had wings!

That's correct...wings! About a nine foot span. Below the wings and attached somehow were her arms. She was double limbed. And the fit of her wings were absolutely perfect. Extraordinary from a scientific and aesthetic point of view. A giant mind altering dose of reality for Frannie.

She had also been hurt at the time, which was how Frannie was eventually able to capture and sedate her, with the help of an FBI agent named Thomas Brennan, known better to Frannie as Kit. They brought her to the animal hospital she operated where Frannie examined her.

She found very large pectoral muscles anchored to an overlarge breastbone, anterior and posterior air sacs, and a heart as big as a horse's. She had been "engineered" that way. A perfect design, actually. Totally brilliant.

Her name was Max, short for Maximum, and it was incredibly hard to win over any sort of trust at all. But Frannie soon got Max to open up to her. Max told Frannie things that would make you sick to your stomach and angrier than you've ever been.

Max told of a place called the School, where she'd been kept captive since the day she was born. Biologists, trying to break the barrier on human longevity had melded several types of DNA with human zygotes. The most successful attempts were with bird DNA. They had created Max and several other children. A flock.

Unfortunately the scientists couldn't grow the babies in test tubes, so the genetically modified embryos had to be implanted in their mothers' wombs. When the mothers were close to term labor was induced. The poor mothers were told that their premature children had died. The preemies were than shipped to an underground lab called the School. The School was, by definition, a maximum security prison. The children were kept in cages, and the rejects were "put to sleep," a horrible euphemism for cold blooded murder.

This is why Max had done what she had been forbidden to do. She had escaped from the School. They had even got to live with the kids for a few months at a place they had called the lake house. Kit and Frannie listened to what Max had to say and than went to rescue the other children still trapped at the School. The six surviving children, including Max and her brother, had than been sent to live with their parents.

After a fierce custody battle, the biological parents eventually won full guardianship. This arrangement was soon violently broken when men sent from a place called the Hospital came for them. The man who ran the Hospital was also in charge of the School. His name was Harold Hauer and he was over one hundred years old.

This man had successfully extended his own life through a radical and disgusting method. Hauer used the full organ systems from living humans to replace his own, the donor humans did just that, they would done out their very lives.

After a long run from this organization, the chase finally climaxed in a fierce fight in which Max's lover, Ozymandius, was killed. The five remaining children were captured and brought to the Hospital along with Frannie and Kit. Max, terrified at the prospect of being stuck in a cage after all that time of freedom, led a daring escape which eventually killed Harold Hauer and exposed the horrible things the hospital was doing.

The courts took this into account in their decision and ruled that the children stay with Frannie and Kit. Though this was the happiest day they had had in a very long time, it was still plagued with sadness. The seven remaining in the flock couldn't help but think of Oz, perhaps this is why the most horrifying aspect to the flock of this whole ordeal is the fact that Oz's body had mysteriously disappeared from the clearing where he had died. Still, Max faithfully traveled the miles to the clearing from the lake house, sometimes with the other children but most times without, and allowed herself to mourn him.


	3. Divirsity

Disclaimer: I am not James Patterson, thus, I have no claim to ownership over his characters.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 2**

Max, Matt, Icarus, Peter and Wendy were indeed a sight to behold as they came home from school. During the beginning of the year when they were still new to the local school Frannie would drive the hour or so into town to pick them up from their school. Max soon saw what this was doing to Frannie and agreed to fly home, despite what remarks this might bring from the other kids. Besides, the way home was longer by road than it was 'the way the bird fly's' so to speak.

"How was it today?" Frannie came out the front door as they touched down in the clearing in front of the house.

"Fine"

"Good"

"Fine"

"Ok"

"It was the best day I've ever had in my life!" Icarus said sarcastically as they filed past her into the house.

Max kept walking and never changed her pace even up the stairs. She even skipped a few steps when she fluttered her wings excitedly. The last thing they heard from Max for a few hours was the slam of a door.

"What up her butt?" Peter asked while Wendy laughed.

Matt, who was sitting on the sofa with the television remote in his hand, gave Peter a small nudge with his foot.

"You should know Matthew." Icarus remarked as he sat down at the piano and struck up a soft chord.

"Just because she's my sister doesn't mean..."

"Not just you Matt, all of us should. It's only been a year, you can't have forgotten already." Icarus didn't look up from the keys while speaking.

"Right, well..." Matt looked down sullenly, inadvertently picking at his fingernails.

"Come on you four, your homework can't be done already you just got home from school. C'mon, get up." Frannie snatched the remote out of Matt's hands and shooed the twins into the dining room where they normally did homework.

Frannie walked up to the piano and sat next to Icarus. He didn't pause or acknowledge Frannie at all, just kept his head pointed towards the keys as his fingers glided over them

"It's Thursday, Kit's coming home tomorrow..." Frannie seemed to be looking for an answer.

"Yeah" is all Icarus said.

"So have you talked to Max lately?" Frannie tried another stab at conversation.

"Nope"

"Do you want to talk about anything?" Frannie stroked her fingers through his beautiful white hair.

"I'm good" Frannie got up and started to walk towards the stairs.

"If you ever need to talk...with me or Max, we'll always bee here. I know you haven't done a lot of that." Frannie continued up the stairs to try and comfort Max.

She remembered having the distinct thought that it hadn't been this hard to talk to the kids since they had first met.

"I'll be fine..." Icarus whispered to himself while a soft tear splashed onto the piano keys.


	4. Enmities

Disclaimer: If you haven't cought on allready, most of the characters in my story are not my creation, so they do not belong to me.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 3**

Max seemed to be herself again the next day. Icarus could still feel tenseness in her voice though, as if she was fighting to constrain something within her.

"Come _on_, Max, we're going to be late!" Wendy exclaimed from the front porch.

"I'm coming, and you're not going to be late." Max flew the last few yards out the door and off to the west, towards their new school.

Technically they went to two schools. Peter and Wendy attended an elementary school only a few blocks from the junior high school where Matt, Max and Icarus went.

After dropping the twins off at their school the others barely made it into the rooms before the first bell. The first five periods ran along fairly normally and with surprising speed.

When she walked toward her sixth period class, Max saw a large crowd at the end of the hallway. Everyone seemed to be looking at something out of the window that was there. Max immediately had an ominous feeling about the situation.

She pushed and shoved and did anything to get in front of the crowd. What she saw there horrified her. After all, Max and the others had thought the serious persecution was behind them.

Icarus was down in the yard in front of the school. Around him were four boys. They circled around him, throwing out taunts and sticks, confusing the poor blind boy.

"Oh, Ic..." Max hurried down the stairs as fast as her wings would carry her.

The incident had caught the attention of another in the crowd. A ten year old boy looked on from the side of the school with disgust. He may have been ten, but his eyes betrayed a further wisdom. His eyes were the eyes of he who had been wronged, and this young man certainly had been wronged.

"Pah, look at these _humans_," He practically spat out the word 'humans', "They wont even admit their own inferiority, they have to hunt in packs."

Nick ran from the shadows with lightening quickness, passing on his way those he hated the most. These are the people who hung back, afraid to be caught in any particular group. Why live if you don't know what you live for?

Than past those who would shout out the obscenities and the occasional catcalls, but never to throw the first stone. These people he pitied, always waiting for a leader to save them and show them exactly what to do.

Nick threw all of his might into that first punch; the leader (or at least the biggest and the stupidest) was bent in half and thrown back several feet. He would not be getting up. The rest didn't fare much better. In the end only one was able to walk away still conscious.

By the time Max had made it out the front door it was all over. Matt had arrived on the front steps just after Max.

"Max? What happened, Max?" Matt was confused, he too had seen Icarus in trouble and gone to his aide, only to find that it wasn't needed.

"I don't know, but I'm going to find out." Max headed towards Icarus and Nick.

Icarus was curled up in a fetal position on the dirt. Nick knelt and placed a hand on his shoulder. Together they were able to stand up and give Max a good look at what the kids did to him.

"Don't you dare hurt him!" Max yelled as she rushed Nick.

Nick swiftly turned to avoid Max and with one hand grabbed her arm and held her close. Max cried out more in frustration than in pain. He did all of this without letting Icarus fall or even stumble.

"Don't hurt her!" Icarus managed to get out before Nick dropped her and left her kneeling in the dirt.

Nick passed Icarus off to Matthew who began to address his wounds. Meanwhile Max began to twirl a feather Icarus had dropped between her fingers when Nick came and sat beside her.

"I understand your frustration but I am not your enemy at the moment." Nick said, thinking that it might bring a small bit of comfort.

"I don't even know who you are." Max remarked.

"Well, my name is Nicholas. My father...you must come with me, there is someone you should meet." Max noted the way his voice changed when Nick said 'father'.

"I'm not going anywhere with you, neither is Matt or Ic." Max looked at him with a rage in her face.

Nick thought that at that moment Max was perhaps the most beautiful creature he had ever seen.

"I can force you." It was true; Nick did hold that particular threat over her head.

"Where" Max demanded.

"Far away, only Icarus need come, but the rest of you are invited as well." Nick stood up and turned away "I will wait for you after your classes; your youngest friends have already been told that they will have to fly home tonight."

"Who, have you gone near them? If you lay one hand on either of them I will kill you!" Max was up again and in fighting position.

"Kill me? You aren't very good at making threats are you?" Nick laughed at her silence "Someone they know told them. Someone little Wendy's seen before."


	5. Discoveries

Disclaimer: Max, et all are not my property, and so I cannot claim that they are my origional ideas.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 4**

Max would never have believed that she would find herself flying over Nick as he weaved his way through the woods, sometimes leaping into the trees to jump over rocky outcroppings or small streams.

There was almost no conversation in the air. Max had only said they had to follow Nick somewhere, she hadn't specified, and the most frightful thing of all was that they had blindly agreed. Their only concern was Peter, Wendy and Frannie.

They flew for about an hour before touching down in a small clearing in the woods. It was a very quiet field, very serene Max thought.

"So where's this guy you wanted us to meet?" Max said

Nick didn't turn toward her to acknowledge Max's remark, but soon replied with his own remark

"Soon enough" is all he had to say.

They waited an hour while Nick paced angrily back and forth. "Who are you?" Max demanded once again.

"I'm no one to be trifle with, now calm down. He'll be here soon." Nick seemed to be getting impatient.

"Jeez, what is wrong with you" Matt was obviously impatient himself.

"You...you people are what's wrong with me. You and your _perfect_ lives, such _perfect_ creations you turned out to be. While we, the trash, were proverbially 'taken out'"

Max realized what she should have seen a long time ago. The slightly disproportionate arms, a large midsection, the thick long nails on his fingers. He must have been genetically engineered as well!

"You. You were made in a lab too, weren't you?" Max looked at Nick in a whole new light now and realized why she hadn't been so reluctant to follow him.

"No. But my father was." Nick sneered at Max while he spoke.

"Well, um, hello?" A large hulking figure seemed to appear behind them, this could be the only explanation since their keen sense of hearing would have picked up anyone approaching.

The figure seemed to be made up of many layers of thick ragged overcoats. These made his tall figure look large and menacing, coupled with a scarred face and rough calloused hand (complete with claws) he made a very intimidating site to behold.

Perhaps this is the reason for the immediate instinct to flee. The children tried to take off but in their rush they forgot to help Icarus. The tall disfigured man had him. When Max and Matt realized this they fought their instincts to land and retrieve Icarus.

"I'm sorry I have to do this, but Icarus belongs with me." The large man spread his giant leather wings and took off still holding Icarus.

Matt and Max gave chase but the demon creature was fast. Faster than fast. He must have been going over a hundred miles an hour through the air and not breaking a sweat. He had amazing agility as well. Going full speed, he would turn corners that Max had to come to a stop to turn.

It isn't surprising that soon Matt and Max had lost track of their quarry. When they did eventually stop searching Max could still hear Ic's last plea for help. It rang in her head over and over again. Matt had to hold her in the air on the way back to the house.

At the lake house Frannie was frantic; she had thought about sending Peter and Wendy to search for the missing children but decided enough of them were gone already. She called the Police, the forest rangers; even got Kit to call some friends he had left in the FBI. Nothing had turned up yet.


	6. Resurrection

Disclaimer: Do not own the character, wish I did but never will. (Wow, lets see how many times I can say the same thing without repeating myself)

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 5**

Back in the forest, several miles from the lake house, the large man who had kidnapped Icarus introduced himself as Daedalus. Icarus felt as if he could trust this man. After a short while Icarus flew unbridled next to his captor.

So Daedalus told him everything. About his relationship with Hauer and their mother. Everything.

"Wow. I mean wow. I didn't know any of this, why didn't anyone tell me, why didn't my mother tell me she had another child?" Icarus flew on with the occasional signal from Daedalus.

"She didn't know to make anything of it. Hauer changed after all of you were born, he used to create for the advances in science. Than some people offered him money, a lot of it. Apparently one company funds several similar institutions around the world."

"My God, more like us?" Icarus didn't know what to make of this.

"Perhaps. There...is one thing I didn't tell you Icarus. Because of my genes my mind is incredibly advanced, I can peer into thoughts. There was a time I had a chance to save one of you. I saw that his heart was consumed with his love and he wasn't thinking of himself or his wounds. That is why I decided to save him." Icarus dared to think but was scared of what would come. "You will know once we get there. Ah, you can see our destination now." All Icarus could see was a large cliff face looming in the horizon.

As it turns out, their destination was a small cave in the side of the cliff face. Daedalus gripped the wall and guided Icarus inside before entering himself. Icarus felt around a bit until he found a semi enclosed space into which he could sit and feel safe. But it was strange, with this creature he already felt safe.

"I remember you used to do the same thing when you were a baby." Daedalus smiled as he noticed where Icarus had lodged himself.

Icarus listened carefully in this new surrounding and heard a third breath. "Who else is here?" He demanded.

"A friend of yours, he cannot talk and shouldn't get up so don't ask him to. I'll show you where he is." Daedalus guided Icarus toward a warmer part of the cave. He could feel discarded feathers underfoot. As if to read his mind Daedalus said "He has been very sick."

Daedalus sat Icarus down next to a shivering body. Ic placed a hand on his face. It was terribly thinned due to lack of nutrition and was very clammy but he could still recognize the signature bold features of his lost friend.

Icarus sat with Oz's head in his lap and cried for his friend. "How did this happen? Is he...dead?"

"No, but I'm not sure if he will wake up." Daedalus seemed to understand that there was no need for him to be there at the moment so he turned to leave.

Icarus stopped him "Why can't he talk, why wont he wake up?"

"The bullet hit mostly lung and trachea; he was still alive when everyone left him. I saw that this was not the little ones time so I intervened. I managed to patch him up pretty good." Icarus felt where the bullet had passed through and felt a large spider shaped scar.

He also felt a newly applied tattoo on top of the scar. "He told me to put it back on." Daedalus explained.

It was a small heart with the letters M-A-X inscribed over it. Icarus cried for Oz, he cried for his new brother, but most of all he cried for Max. She had claimed she had moved on, but Icarus could hear in Max's strained words that she had not, far from it.

"We have to tell, have to tell Max. You don't know what this will mean to her." Icarus got excited at the prospect of hearing life in Max's voice again.

"I do know. My son informed me on the status of your friends, though I told him only to look after you. He is only ten but has the mind of an adult. His mother would have been so proud."

"Nick...Nicholas is your son? So, he's my nephew?"

"Yes, albeit not a very good one. He blames me for his half formed mutations. My lover was a human, she left when she saw what she had helped to spawn."

At this last remark Daedalus flew into the night, he supposed it was to hunt. Icarus caressed Oz's hair and felt as if everything was right.


	7. New Friends

Disclaimer: Once again, I do not own the rights to this book.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 6**

Back at the lake house the family was sitting down for dinner. Family at this time meant Frannie, Kit, Wendy and Peter. Max and Matt still hadn't returned yet. As a matter of fact they were just entering the clearing before the house. Matt and his sister had talked, a lot. They talked about things Max used to only be able to tell Oz. Matthew was glad, he thought a rift had come between them recently.

They came into the house, clothes torn and mud caked. Frannie was the first to reach and embrace them as if she hadn't seen either Max or Matt in years. Kit, however, was the first to ask about Icarus. Matt told most of the story while Max held his hand, intent on concentrating solely on the wooden floor and the rug she was ruining with her muddy shoes.

Kit brought Matt, Peter and Wendy upstairs while Frannie took Max into the living room.

"I just want to know what you were thinking; we've never had this problem before. And you've always been the best." Max was forced to break the concentration she had on her shoes. "You do realize that Icarus is your responsibility." Max still had nothing to say but large tears welled up in her eyes.

Frannie tried to sit next to Max and offer some form of comfort but Max wouldn't have it.

"I know alright! I know it's my fault. I let you down, let Ic down, and Matt and Kit and everyone!" Max flew up to her room where she stormed out into the night sky despite Frannie's protests. The three other children soon followed, Kit tailing helplessly behind.

Max sat on top of the house sobbing and didn't notice the others until they were right next to her.

"Nothing's going to happen to you, is it Max?" Peter asked.

"Ic's still alive, I know it!" Wendy chimed in.

"We all love you Max. We'll always be together and we'll get Icarus back together." Matt and she understood each other better now and he knew exactly what to say to make her feel better.

In the darkness Wendy saw him first. Daedalus had come back. "It's the man from before!" She shouted out.

"Wendy's right, it is that man who took Ic, but how does she know that, she's never seen him before." Matt said

"_This_ is the man that took Icarus?" Wendy asked with a puzzled look.

Matt took Wendy and looked straight into her eyes "Where did you see this man before, this is very important Wendy."

"From before, well, you know, when Oz died." Wendy said this as if it were the most obvious thing.

"I do not mean you harm." This man with the large leather wings was faster than he looked. "Icarus is not dead, I would not kill family. My name is Daedalus." Daedalus spoke clearly, slowly and in short sentences on purpose to help them understand.

Matt and Max had gotten in front of the smaller children ready to defend. They were in their element in the air so they felt confident; but so, Max thought, was he apparently.

"Family, did you say _family_? We're the only family he wants or needs right now you freak!" Max was angry now.

"I should think you would treat me with a little more respect than that, Maximum. I remember when you were only a baby, you used to be so independent and I guess you still are. You were only three when I left, don't you remember me?" Daedalus was really pushing Max's buttons now. "Of course you don't. Harold probably made sure you didn't. I never got to see these two little ones born though. Hello there." The last comment was directed at Peter and Wendy.

"Children go back to the house...NOW!" Max had never yelled at the young ones and hoped she didn't have to again.

Matt and she had decided that they couldn't run so they would defend Frannie and Kit and Peter and Wendy. Daedalus repeated over and over that he did not want a fight but changed his mind when the siblings rushed him.

Daedalus was fast, in every meaning of the term. He used his giant wings to confuse them and his long limbs to keep them from striking a blow. Daedalus was in total control of the fight and it was evident that he could have killed them many times by now if he so wished.

Daedalus slowly led the fight back to the ground and when they were about five feet off he took one arm from each of them and flung them to the ground. Kit came running out yelling and brandishing a large stick. Daedalus took away the stick and sat him down forcefully with minimal exertion from himself.

"I don't want to fight but I will if I have to, I believe I am quite adept." Matt and Max realized they had lost and lay on the ground fuming. "You will all follow me now; I will take you to your friend. It is quite far so come prepared. I will take you along the road so you can take a car. I will be waiting here."

Back in the house Kit was set against not going. "We cannot trust him, he almost killed you two."

"But he barely laid a bruise, we hurt him much worse. I think he did that on purpose." Matt argued and Max agreed.

"Wendy, what did you say about seeing this man before?" Max was curious about this man who seemingly appeared out of nowhere.

"He was at the place when, you know..." Wendy looked up to Max as if for permission.

"It's alright Wendy" Max assured her

"The place where Oz died" Despite Max's assurance this still got a grimace from everyone. "He was

hanging from a tree a little ways into the woods."

"But how did you know it was him?" Frannie asked

"His wings, he stretched out his wings in the forest, they were the same big leather wings." Wendy explained

"Was he following us? See what I mean, I don't know if we can trust this 'Daedalus'." Kit was still very skeptical.

"He told me about my childhood, told me he knew me before, knew doctor Hauer." Max had a feeling he wasn't lying. "Anyways he has Icarus, and he could attack at any time. We should go...for Icarus."

Everyone except Kit agreed that this was in Ic's best interest. So they left, Peter and Wendy went with Frannie and Kit in their SUV while Max and Matt flew above them. When they first came out of the house they found Daedalus sitting cross-legged in the grass, nursing a large gash on his forearm, courtesy of Max.

"Sorry about that, does it hurt?" Max apologized.

"I think I'll live." Daedalus smiled up at Max. "All Ready? Good" He asked while they all nodded their heads in agreement.

While flying a few minutes later Matt asked Max if she thought they should really trust Daedalus.

"I don't know" is all she had to say.


	8. Old Friends

Disclaimer: I am not claiming any rights or ownership to these characters, nor do I plan to.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 7**

Icarus heard Daedalus fly into the cave; he was subtle for someone of his size. Ic had stayed with Oz in the same position since Daedalus had left. Not two seconds after Daedalus entered the cave Icarus heard a car stop on the loose gravel above the cave.

"There are people here for you." Daedalus said

"But I don't want to go; I want to stay with you." In the short time they had together Icarus had grown close to his brother.

"Not for you anyway, these people will be glad to see you as well." Icarus knew who it was and had expected to be happy about seeing his family, but in reality he had mixed feelings about the whole ordeal. "I'll be right back." He said to the unconscious Oz.

Ic took his brothers hand and they walked towards the cave entrance. When they reached the top every member of the family snatched Icarus away from Daedalus while shooting him looks of pure poison. Icarus tried to stop them but failed miserably.

"Stop. I would like to make a trade." Everyone stopped and looked at Daedalus.

"Listen to what he has to say, Max." Icarus said to the person who had him in the strongest embrace of all.

"What do you want now?" Frannie demanded of Daedalus.

"I want to give you another friend in exchange that Icarus stays with me." This piqued Max's interest most of all.

"Please, I want to stay with him...Daedalus is my brother." Icarus pleaded with his family.

"I was close than kin to all of you at one point, when we were amazing creatures, loved by our creator. Not lab rats used for money. You, Max, you thought you were the first to escape? I saw he was corrupted the moment that dirty money touched his hands, so I left. And when I had the chance to make up for my absence I took it, but I want you to know Maximum that I feel that I haven't come close to compensation for the sufferings you have gone through." Max was caught short of breath at Daedalus' speech and the full force of her longing for Oz hit her all at once.

"Come with me Maximum." Daedalus glided into the small cave and pointed out the bundle on the floor in a corner of the main room.

Max could just make out the form lying on the ground, she tried to move closer but her legs felt like cement bricks. She eventually willed herself to the bedside where Max kneeled over the quivering body. Her breath was coming in short bursts now; she could clearly see the features of the young man who lay before her.

"My God, Oz, you're alive." Max wept over his body when Ozymandius opened his eyes. Oz placed his hand on Max's head and Max cried harder.


	9. Memories

Disclaimer: Don't own these books so don't own the characters so there.

Just heard that there is a new book coming out in this series in the spring. It is called "Maximum Ride: The Angel Experiment" Check it out! Updates as I hear them.

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 8**

Daedalus was astonished that Oz had opened his eyes. For the past few months he was close to death, Daedalus honestly didn't know if Oz would live. One by one the other kids filed into the cave. It was getting very tight Daedalus was slightly claustrophobic. He had to get out, so he joined Icarus with Frannie and Kit while the other children, mostly Matt and Max, carried Oz on a litter made of the cloth he'd been wrapped and laid him down on the soft grass. As Frannie approached she got weak in the needs. She knelt beside him and cried just as Max had done.

"Ozymandius, dear Oz, please be real. Oh think you God." Frannie was beside herself indeed, they all were.

They had just seen their friend come back from the dead.

Everyone got back in the car, and they drove to the lake house. Upon their arrival kit looked back, and saw Daedalus touchdown on the clearing in front of the house. He gave Daedalus a menacing look, as if Kit hadn't expected him to come as well.

No one knew how to proceed. Oz had fallen unconscious again, but Daedalus assured them that this was only sleep. Max sat tracing the wound and the new tattoo.

"Is he going to be OK" Wendy broke the silence.

"Yes, I've been spending the last day with him. I couldn't believe it." Icarus chimed in.

"Would you like to talk to him Max?" The enmity toward Daedalus had all but dissipated between him and the children.

Max did not answer, and Daedalus took that as an affirmative remark. Oz was situated on a large sofa in the living room. Daedalus stood at the end of the sofa near Oz's head. He opened Oz's eyes and ruffled his large wings.

Max had a fleeting thought that this man looked more like a demon than a man. His large wings were brown with a light fur covering them. Menacing bony protrusions came from either end, and looked rather formidable.

Daedalus lightly placed his hands on Oz's temples and closed his eyes. He opened them suddenly and started to yell. It took everyone only a short while, to realize it was Oz, who was yelling.

"Where am I? Max are you there, why can't I see?" Daedalus seems to be calming down, though his voice had changed from deep and raspy to the confidence of Ozymandius.

"I'm here Oz..." Max didn't exactly know how to talk to Oz and Daedalus, or who to talk to for that matter.

"Max. Oh Max, I can see now, I can see you, it's been so long." Max did not know if this was a trick or she was really talking to Oz after all this time.

"Is it really you Oz, tell me it's you_, prove _to me. Because this is more than I can handle." Max was in a terrible state.


	10. Afraid

Disclaimer: I do not, repeat, do not own any characters or plots in this story that James Patterson had previously come up with. (This is really getting old fast)

**-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------**

**Chapter 9**

Soon Oz was able to speak and move around some, but was very limited. He was looking much better though his once dashing features were lost to lack of food and the trauma he had undergone. The improvement was most likely because of everyone fawning over him, especially Max.

"You can't believe what this means to us Oz, we were all empty without you." Frannie to the seat next to him and put her on around him. "Now is there anything I can get for you?"

"Water. Please" Oz's voice was not the same. It sounded as if it hurt to talk.

"OK, if that's what you want" Daedalus got off his chair and walked to Ozymandius.

He placed his hand on Oz's temples again, and eventually spoke again with the signature features of Oz's voice. "That's better, I guess I'm still not fully healed. My throat still hurts a lot. We used to do this often when I was unconscious. I told him why I had to leave and go to you, and it is also how he found Icarus. Turn towards Max now, no don't say it, _you_ turn to her. Never mind." Everyone laughed at the internal argument. "I just wanted to say that I love you, always have, when..."

"Oz, you don't have to tell me. I know and I feel the same way." Max put her hand on Oz's cheek. While she talked to him her fingers brushed against Daedalus

In a matter of seconds, their minds were one and Max could see what Oz had seen. Daedalus had secrets, more than Max could handle. But one memory came to her in vivid color. She was looking to the eyes of Daedalus and saw herself in his arms. She looked to have been just born.

Then Harold Hauer came in, and Daedalus smiled at him. "I told you it would work." He said to the doctor.

"What should we name her, it's your choice. Yes, you are one third, her father and the only alive one. So you name her." The doctor seems different than any other time they had met him.

"Maximum" he said. "Sweet little Max" she saw herself grab Daedalus' finger and watched as he laughed.

"D, I think that is a perfect name." Daedalus was only eight or nine at the time, but Hauer treated him like an adult.

Daedalus yelled out in pain and broke contact with both of them. Now you see who I am. Icarus, come with me, you belong with me. Maximum I'm sorry you had to see that."

Oz fell to the floor, you having seen the same thing as Max and they dahlias. He was just a shocked. Max was in tears as she held onto Oz.

"That totally blew my mind, he showed me some memories before but I had no idea. Did you?" Oz seemed to have regained some of the strength

"I need to see him again. Ic, he wants you to come to. He wanted us to live with him like when we were babies." Max had a serious tone, she only just adopted.

Matt ran over to steady Oz, and asked him what had just happened and Peter and Wendy were crying because they didn't want Icarus to go again. Since he got back, they had been hanging on him and Oz the whole time. Kit stood up and sternly forbade her from going after him. Even after he had saved Oz, Kit still didn't trust Daedalus.

Max looked angrily and Kit as she held her arm. He just didn't understand what it felt like. This turned her whole world upside down. She just couldn't handle it at once. First Oz was gone, and then Ic, her heart wasn't made to handle this type of duress. And now, someone from her past had come to help in she pushed him away.

"Come on Icarus lets go, he'll get away." She pulled away from Kit and looked somberly and them both.

Frannie's eyes pleaded with her, longing for Max to stay while holding on to Peter and Wendy.

Max looked at Icarus, who was still sitting. "Max how do you think I feel. I lost Oz to, and now I have a brother. You and Matt, you know how it is, your close. I_ want_ that, I_ need_ that, I_ deserve_ that. I've never seen, haven't seen on Oz. And still can't see him. What I'm getting it is, I love you Max, and always will, but right now you're wrong." Icarus sat back down and turned his back to her.

"Matty...Matt you agree with me." Max pleaded with Matt.

"Just stay, stay with us Max. We're together again, and you want to break us up. Just stay with us." Matt had tears in his eyes; him and his sister had gone through several degrees of hell together and had grown close. He could relate to Icarus.

"None of you know what I saw! I remember him now from when we were small." Max fell on to her knees and held out her hands as if she was holding a child. "Used to hold me, and his laugh is so unique. Remember Oz, remember Uncle D.?" She was smiling as she remembered the time before the school, perhaps the only other fond memories she had besides those with Frannie and Kit.

"I do remember, and I saw as well. Did you wonder why he stopped when he did? Because there is something he wants to_ hide from us_! I felt at once when we talked he was always nervous, always blocking something." Oz closed his eyes and shook his head as if to clear away some cobwebs. "When I remembered and called him Uncle D, just like when we were kids, remember Max?"

" Yeah, I remember, Oz"

"When he knew I remembered him he left me alone for close to a week and when he came back he acted like nothing ever happened. I didn't mention it again, because I was afraid he would leave me again. I... I didn't want to be alone. When I was alone, I just thought of you, Max. I didn't know if you were alive either." Matt left Oz, who appeared to be feeling much better, and went to comfort Max.

Max clung on to her brother and Oz. She knew that these were the most important people to her. She wouldn't blow it again. Frannie and Kit soon came over with Peter Wendy and Icarus. The eight of them were back together again and Max couldn't imagine a place she would rather be, none of them could.


End file.
